


Norwegian Woods

by Valgus



Series: Words of Nations [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3777406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valgus/pseuds/Valgus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"April was too lonely a month to spend alone. In April, everyone around me looked happy. People would throw their coats off and enjoy each other’s company in the sunshine—talking, playing catch, holding hands. But I was always by myself."</p><p>Ludwig was always by himself, until that warm spring day on Central Park.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Norwegian Woods

It was warm in New York.

Spring returned almost gracefully to the city, lightly touching greening trees and small birds. The air smelled faintly like flower and grass. Everyone smiled, even the squirrel who happened to stop to gaze at certain strange man who sat on Central Park with books, papers, and laptop.

Ludwig Beilschmidt was thirty four years old businessman who had lived in New York. Around four years ago, he was transferred to New York as replacement for head of New York branch for the automotive company he worked for. It was quite an honour. Ludwig had grown accustomed to the city, with its tall buildings, people, and transportation. He still didn’t know whether he liked any of them.

Just last January, his older brother Gilbert visited him to spend Christmas and New Years with Ludwig. Naturally, Ludwig still had tons of jobs by the end and beginning of the year since he was such a perfectionist, but he did bring his brother around.

Being with Gilbert made Ludwig realised how out of place both of them could be. They were both very tall, fairly built, and very pale, especially his albino brother. When he was alone, people didn’t take second glance at him because people find him stunning in scary way—something that his American colleague, Alfred, admitted after sometime, while indicating that everyone felt almost the same way toward the German—but Gilbert acted just like he acted back in Germany and befriend anyone in sight.

Gilbert left him as February approached by saying that he enjoyed New York very much. His brother only there for less than a month.

Ludwig couldn’t help but to envy his carefree brother. Sure, Gilbert got less things done than him, but life seemed more enjoyable when Gilbert was around. Ludwig felt the urge to snicker. Here he was, sitting in Central Park with pile of works, missing his older brother, and alone.

Alone.

Wasn’t he always alone his whole life?

Ludwig closed his laptop and leaned back to the tree behind him. Instead of ‘alone’, he chose ‘solitude’. ‘Solitude’ get things done, ‘solitude’ let him become himself, and ‘solitude’ didn’t take his time for someone else.

The blond male’s hand found his way towards a paperback book buried under thick book on human resource management. It was a novel given by a very close friend. Kiku Honda was leaving Germany after he finished his PhD on chemical engineering and he happened to take the same flight with Ludwig. Ludwig’s plane flied to Japan first before leaving to United States. They were seated next to each other. They pulled out same German newspaper and read a certain column on engineering first, which opened conversation between two of them.

Ludwig didn’t know whether people, or Japanese people in general, give their new friend a book. Even though they were still in touch after almost five years, Ludwig only get his chance to read the book lately. Surely, he heard the name of Haruki Murakami. But he just had the chance to read the writer’s book now.

 _Norwegian Wood_ reminded him vaguely on winter, on lost but treasured thing, on not knowing what does he feels.

But Ludwig did felt a little sorry for the main character, for he had to deal with two partners. Nevertheless, the book filled with interesting quotes. He marked all of them of them with a mechanical pencil, so if he needed to erase them one day, he could.

Even before finishing the book, Ludwig returned to the marked quotes several times. One of them seemed to mock him lightly about his current situation.

_April was too lonely a month to spend alone. In April, everyone around me looked happy. People would throw their coats off and enjoy each other’s company in the sunshine—talking, playing catch, holding hands. But I was always by myself._

_I was always by myself,_ the book said.

Ludwig knew there must be a thing or two missing in a translation, but he quite liked how the translator put it. There were no ‘alone’ or ‘solitude’. There was only ‘by myself’.

_April was too lonely a month to spend alone._

Ludwig snickered.

But there was ‘lonely’.

Smiling down at the book like he smiling at a dog, Ludwig was too immersed with what he hold to realise that there was a cat running to his direction. The furry creature stepped on his books, his closed laptop, before forcing his weight on Ludwig’s lap, next to the opened _Norwegian Wood_ , hissing angrily at something next to Ludwig.

Rather than something, there was a someone.

Whoever this person was, he probably ran after the cat through all the bushes in Central Park. His auburn hair had leaves and small branches on them and there was dirt on his dark pants’ knees. A pair of amber-coloured eyes stared at Ludwig in a rather unreadable emotion, while the owner of those eyes slowly formed a smile and a greeting.

“ _Ciao_ ,” he said, audibly Italian and almost out of breath because of physical activity.

“Hello,” Ludwig replied, ignoring the hissing cat on his lap.

“I a—the cat. I was after the cat,” the male chuckled shyly between pants, like he done something too personal to share. Ludwig _did_ feel the whole after-cat thing as a little strange. After all, the male couldn’t be any younger than thirty, just like himself. He was visibly shorter and less muscular underneath his long coat and buttoned-up shirt, but his smile reminded Ludwig of the sun; warm and radiant.

“Well,” Ludwig glanced at the cat who seemed to be comfortable on his lap. “Here’s the cat. I don’t know why this cat comes at me, though… I’m more of a dog person.”

“Be? Really?” the other male chuckled before settling into sitting position, straightening his legs and took a deep breath to calm his ragged breathing. “So then, you a-have a dog here?”

“In Manhattan? No,” Ludwig shook his head. “I can’t afford a dog here, not with the job and the place…”

“I can’t afford a cat either,” the Italian also shook his head, as if the fact that he couldn’t get a pet either might lessen Ludwig’s burden.

“There’s always other people’s dog, though,” Ludwig shrugged, not knowing why he shared something like this with plain stranger.

“Yes, there’s always other people’s cat too!” he agreed, nodding enthusiastically, before suddenly adding, “And also pasta!”

That caught Ludwig off guard, “What?”

“Pasta. Pasta is good!” the amber-eyed male moved his hands around, gesturing at something big and grand.

“Yes, pasta is good,” Ludwig knew he agreed. “I know this place called _Trattoria del Sole_ who made wonderful pasta dishes.”

Ludwig’s words somehow enlighten the other male’s face, “You think so?”

“Yes. Why?” Ludwig believed the Italian also liked to dine there.

“I’m the head chef of the place! I run the place with my brother Lovino, who handle the cafe—“ Ludwig immediately recalled the dark-haired barista who seemed to be constantly angry and blushing “—and my grandpa, who generally just being here and there because he had others places all over the States.”

Ludwig almost smiled. Almost. “You made delicious food.”

“Be…” the chef smiling rather awkwardly, his face was visibly flushed and almost as red as tomato. “ _Grazie!_ That makes me so happy… beee…”

Ludwig didn’t know that someone could be adorable while blushing and moving their hands around.

“I plan to eat there again,” he added, making the other male smiling even wider. Ludwig had to admit that he said those words only to make the other male blush even more. Every time those sun-kissed cheeks blushes, Ludwig felt warm and weak, like he was dipped in warm bath after long, tiring day.

Still with red cheeks and contagious smile, the auburn-haired male moved his hands around, “I’ll treat you! Please come there! Just tell the waiter that you’re asking for food from Feliciano!”

“Feliciano—is that your name?” Ludwig stared at those honey-coloured eyes, nervous and excited at the same time.

“Yes! Feliciano Vargas!” Feliciano nodded.

“I’m Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt,” Ludwig nodded in return, giving the other male his hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ludwig!” Feliciano took his hand like a child took his Christmas present.

Ludwig shook Feliciano’s hand. He already forgot about the book or the cat. The blue-eyed male stared at the smiling Italian face, adorned with spring leaves and smell of fresh dirt.

Spring had returned to the city gracefully.

And it was so satisfyingly warm in New York.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I only plan to write drabble, but it seems that my words won’t stop flowing once it started. I apologise. Have this fluffy GerIta human AU because I think they’re too adorable to exist.
> 
> I wrote ‘Be’ instead of the usual ‘Ve’, because I heard it comes from ‘Bene’. It does feel a little strange, I must admit.
> 
> I haven’t read "Norwegian Wood" yet. I really should.
> 
> Thank you for reading this. May spring returns to all of us gracefully and warmly.


End file.
